New Possible Gothic Project Has A Playable Teaser Available Right Now

Okay, a peek behind the curtain here. I’ve been doing this job for a while now, and in that time I’ve faked my share of excitement. I don’t like to lie, but there are definitely ways you can exaggerate your faith in a project. You accentuate the positive, ignore some doubts, put faith in the developers that they will finish things right, all in service of giving the game the chance it deserves. But this is a case where I don’t have to fake shit. I fucking love Gothic. I absolutely adore Piranha Bytes RPGs. Please THQ Nordic, make this a full thing.

To clarify a bit before I continue the tongue bathing I’m giving my favorite RPG developers of all time, Gothic is one of the most iconic hardcore RPGs of the past 20 years. The original Gothic came out 18 years ago, with the last installment coming out in 2006. No, I do not recognize the existence of Arcania: Gothic 4, but thanks for asking. The Gothic series is known for being the real nerd’s RPG. Hundreds of quests, punishing fights, and mountains of lore completely eclipse the wonky controls and mountain of bugs. If you’re the kind of gamer that gets turned off because you climbed down a ladder and broke the game, then get off my lawn you damned kids.

Unfortunately, with a franchise this old, there’s no telling if people would actually want a new one. So THQ Nordic did something crazy and just made the Gothic Playable Teaser. This move is pretty unheard of. Most companies might release a trailer or a Twitter poll to gauge interest. But THQ Nordic tasked their Barcelona team with making a whole playable game just to test the waters. That’s bold. Even the most successful Playable Teaser (you know the one) was for a game they were already planning on making. But with the Gothic Playable Teaser, if you don’t play it, they won’t make it.

Now to clarify, there are a few things to note about the Gothic Playable Teaser. First and foremost, you have to own a Piranha Bytes game to have access to it. If you own any of their previous titles, the Gothic Playable Teaser should already be in your Steam library. The second thing to note is that this is a prototype. Expect plenty of bugs. Lastly, this game is not being made by Piranha Bytes. The prototype is from THQ Nordic Barcelona. There’s no words yet on Piranha Bytes’ next game, but it will be announced in 2020.

So please, for the love of God, play it. I want this so bad. I unironically love Piranha Bites games. I beat Risen 2 on the Voodoo path. I did all 3 factions for Risen 3. I even played ELEX! To see the classic Gothic franchise reborn would be a dream, even if it is a new team. If anything, support this project as a bold new direction to take the industry. Making a whole playable prototype is the kind of thing we as consumers want companies to do before they release products no one wants.

So if you want to check it out, click the link to check out the Gothic Playable Teaser‘s Steam store page. Remember, you have to own any Piranha Bytes game to play it. You can take your pick from their library here. Everything is on sale for the next two days, so get them while they’re dirt cheap. I’d personally recommend Risen. It’s a good starting point, not as wonky as Risen 2 or 3 and more forgiving than Gothic. If you manage to get through ELEX, comment below and I will invite you to my all ELEX Christmas party.